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Everything about Non-cognitivism
Meta-ethical theory
Non-cognitivism is the meta-ethical view that ethical sentences do not express propositions and thus cannot be true or false. A noncognitivist denies the cognitivist claim that "moral judgments are capable of being objectively true, because they describe some feature of the world." If moral statements cannot be true, and if one cannot know something that is not true, non-cognitivism implies that moral knowledge is impossible. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Non-cognitivismA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: The Politics of Carnap’s Non-Cognitivism and the Scientific World-Conception of Left-Wing Logical EmpiricismInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Basic EthicsThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Non‐cognitivism and Wishful ThinkingCited 33 times
- Go sideways: MetaethicsA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Cognitivism (ethics)A closely related topic
📖 Definitions
No dictionary entry for this exact phrase.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Non‐cognitivism and Wishful Thinking
Non-Cognitivism and the Classification Account of Moral Uncertainty
Non-Realist Cognitivism, Truthmaking, and Ontological Cheating
Non-Realist Cognitivism, Truth and Objectivity
An empirical argument against moral non-cognitivism
A semantic challenge to non-realist cognitivism
In Sensu non in situ: The Prodromic Cognitivism of Kussmaul
LOGICAL NON‐COGNITIVISM
🆕 Influential since 2022
The Politics of Carnap’s Non-Cognitivism and the Scientific World-Conception of Left-Wing Logical Empiricism
Non‐cognitivism about Metaphysical explanation
Personal‐identity non‐cognitivism *
Non-realist cognitivism, partners-in-innocence, and No dilemma
No puzzles about truth for nonrealist cognitivism
📚 Books worth reading
Basic EthicsMichael Boylan · 1999
Philosophy of the artsGraham, Gordon · 1997
Wittgenstein, to follow a ruleChristopher M. Leich · 1981
The new WittgensteinAlice Crary, Rupert J. Read · 2000
The Routledge companion to ethicsJohn Skorupski · 2010- 📕The concept of a morally responsible personHomer Eugene Mason · 1957
Hume on motivation and virtueCharles R. Pigden · 2009- 📕Hume on motivation and virtueCharles R. Pigden · 2009
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Metaethics In philosophy, metaethics (or meta-ethics) is the study of the nature, scope, ground, and meaning of moral judgment, ethical belief, or values. It is one…
- Cognitivism (ethics) Cognitivism is the meta-ethical view that ethical sentences express propositions and can therefore be true or false (they are truth-apt), which noncognitivists…
- Universal prescriptivism Universal prescriptivism (often simply called prescriptivism) is the meta-ethical view that claims that, rather than expressing propositions, ethical sentences…
- Expressivism In metaethics, expressivism is a theory about the meaning of moral language. According to expressivism, sentences that employ moral terms – for example…
- Emotivism Emotivism is a meta-ethical view that claims ethical sentences do not express propositions but emotional attitudes. Hence, it is colloquially known as…
- Ethical subjectivism Ethical subjectivism (also known as moral subjectivism and moral non-objectivism) is the meta-ethical view which claims that: Ethical sentences express…
- Quasi-realism Quasi-realism is the meta-ethical view which claims that: Ethical sentences do not express propositions. Instead, ethical sentences project emotional attitudes…
- Peter Glassen Peter Glassen (1920–1986) was a professor of philosophy at the University of Manitoba from 1949 until his death in 1986. He was an analytic moral philosopher…